American wartime output benefited enormously from entering the conflict later than Britain. Japan, by contrast, went to war in 1941 while still consolidating in French Indochina and fighting in China, before its preferred buildup was complete. Yet waiting was not a clean solution: Japanese preparation, like Germany's pre-1914 naval race, depended on stronger rivals standing still. Carrier construction therefore belonged to a moving competition in economic mobilization, not merely to a count of hulls planned by each navy.
Notable Point · 14:36-16:08
Mobilization time changed the carrier race
Two additional years of preparation helped American production, while Japan's plans depended on Britain and the United States pausing their own expansion.